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Overview

Welcome to Astronomy 310: Planetary Science, a three-credit course about the physics of the Solar System. This course is based upon the text Moons & Planets by William K. Hartmann (5th edition). It is an intermediate-level astronomy course, meant to be taken after ASTR 210, and is for students who want to study planetary astronomy in a deeper way. Unlike ASTR 210, which covers a wide range of topics in astronomy, ASTR 310 is more focused, concentrating on the planets and smaller bodies found in our own "solar neighbourhood," the Solar System. Students who have not completed ASTR 210, but who have a strong mathematical background (including calculus), may also take the course.

Outline

ASTR 310 comprises five units as described below:

Unit 1: Introduction and Overview
This unit outlines the basic physics and equations needed for your studies of the Solar System.

Unit 2: Stellar and Planetary Formation
This unit looks at the formation of the principal bodies in the Solar System, such as the Sun, the planets and the moons.

Unit 3: Small Bodies
This unit provides an overview of the smallest objects found in the Solar System, such as meteoroids, asteroids and comets.

Unit 4: Planetary Interiors and Surfaces
This unit covers the interiors of planets and planetary surface phenomena such as cratering, volcanism and tectonics.

Unit 5: Planetary Atmospheres
This unit examines the atmospheres of planets, including how they originated and whether planets can keep an atmosphere.

Evaluation

To receive credit for ASTR 310, students must achieve an overall passing grade of D (50 percent) in the course. In addition, students must obtain a passing grade of 50% on both the midterm and final exams. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Activity

Weighting

Assignment 1

6%

Assignment 2

6%

Assignment 3

6%

Assignment 4

6%

Assignment 5

6%

Midterm Exam

35%

Final Exam

35%

Total

100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Most of the course materials for ASTR 310 are available online through the myAU portal. There is one textbook, and it will be sent to you before your course start date.

Textbook

Challenge for Credit Course Overview

The Challenge for Credit process allows students to demonstrate that they have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, and intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university level course.

Challenge Evaluation

To register for a challenge exam, the course professor must be presented with a compelling reason to expect you to succeed at that exam. The exam tests knowledge comparable to that described in the syllabus above, including the ability to make calculations at a level expected in a senior level Science course.